Little Thoughts on Art: Mussels on a Rooftop

Little Thoughts on Art: Mussels on a Rooftop



There’s this rumor that Marcel Broodthaers used to hang out in the bookstore in Brussels all day long, and that it was his wife Maria Gilissen who was the thriving force behind him to get it together and make art. If you meet Gilissen, you know why. She has this special energy going on, one that expresses itself in a pair of green radiant eyes. She told me a funny story about Broodthaers. Once, they had to transport a piece with mussels to a gallery and they called a cab. It was too big to go inside so they decided to strap it on the rooftop of the cab. When Gilissen came back from the expedition, Broodthaers did not ask her anything about the gallery or the exhibition. But he did want to know about the cab driver: did he enjoy driving around with the mussel piece on his roof?


Marcel Broodthaers in his Jardin d'hiver


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